Travelling Tips

[nigo75]

Hi All,
Ive been out of the game for quite a while and was after some help without searching for hours and hours.
Im going overseas and was wondering what are the essentials for storing photos from my camera card while traveling (im staying in Hotels).
Thanks in advance
Nigo75

[ameerat42]

Hi. You certainly have been away, so welcome back.
Also, I think you are now Intermediate, not Beginner, so you may change the
Skill Level in your profile.

So, are you taking a computer with you If so, use that for backup, and a second
(usually physically small) external HDD, such as a Toshiba Canvio or WD Passport.
They (now) start at 1TB in size and are <$100.

- - - Updated - - -

In addition, here's another good tip ESPECIALLY (but not only) for travelling...
Set your camera's image count to be "Continuous", rather than "Reset (or such like)".
That way you will avoid overwriting Image0001 in one folder with a completely different
Image0001 from another set.

...And while I'm at it: take the main parts of your camera gear on board as cabin luggage.

[nigo75]

Thanks ameerat42,
Ive done some updating to my profile .
I have an external drive ready to go, and hopefully just use the hotel computers.
Just wasnt sure if there was some item i was missing

[ameerat42]

I don't know if such computer usage would be free. Maybe

[Lance B]

I use a Samsung 500Gb portable SSD. VERY small and light. I plug it into my laptop and transfer photos that way.

[nigo75]

What size photos would you recommend to take ?

[ameerat42]

The highest quality that you'd be satisfied with. Me? - The highest, in raw format.
Lately in my (local) travels I've had a powerful enough laptop to do some processing
at night. Certainly, I download them all and make a separate copy (computer and HDD).
Storage is not usually an issue with the latest drives. Even a 500GB would usually be
ample for me, and I found in some recent trips totalling some 4 weeks I used about 100GB.

Back to your Q again. - It depends on what value you put on the record of your trip.

Added as an edit:
With large files and the "usual suspect" USB2 transfer, you might wait a while downloading
the photos from camera to computer. I don't know what camera you have, but they don't
always have fast usb ports. I have take a card reader and found that even on USB2, that is faster
than connecting the camera with a cable. On top of that, all my HDDs/computers sport USB3.

[bobt]

You may struggle finding a computer at every place you stay - i prefer to carry my own lightweight netbook. Everything Ameerat has said makes sense (law of probabilities really .... had to happen one day) 8*)

If you don't take a netbook, take a couple of decent capacity spare cards in case it's a while between computers. Aim for taking full sized images because you probably won't see those places again. When you're shooting, chances are you won't have ideal lighting because you often end up in places at midday when the sun is harsh. To overcome this, bracket your shots and play around with them when you get home. Ditto for lenses - don't carry lots of lenses - just one good one, and take lots of panos to stitch together when you get home.

Depends how long you'll be away, where you go etc etc, but if it's a while then taking a netbook gives you a spare copy of everything - one on the netbook and one on the portable HD

[ameerat42]

Probably an accident, Bob

As for camera memory cards, I agree. But memory sticks as storage devices can be a bit of a let down.
They are horribly slow and (I found) do not store much. And I lost one once because I didn't notice it
(presumably, as the only possible explanation) fall out of the camera bag on a glacier.
(It was small and I was looking at the scenery However, the data was backed up.)

[Glenda]

I always take heaps of memory cards, kept in a plastic container which holds 10 - all face down when I start and after use turned the other way so I don't accidentally use one twice. Now, I also carry a light netbook or small external hard drive for back up. I prefer the netbook as I can see the photos are there. I have, in the past, relied just on the memory cards and didn't have a problem. I always shoot raw but if you shoot jpeg use highest quality. You didn't say where you are going, but sometimes hotel computers are difficult to get on and not always the fastest.

[Hawthy]

Halve the lenses. Double the batteries.